Differences in Consumer Abstraction Levels as a Function of Risk Perception

This study investigates factors affecting consumer purchase choice (cognitive structures) in two foods with different perceived risk levels. Means-end chain methodology is used to test for differences in the degrees of abstraction and complexity in the purchase decision process for each product. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of agricultural economics Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 34 - 59
Main Authors Barrena, Ramo, Sánchez, Mercedes
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2010
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Wiley Blackwell
SeriesJournal of Agricultural Economics
Subjects
Agricultural and food market
Beef
consumer behavior
Consumer behaviour
Food beliefs
Food habits
Labelling
M31
means-end chain
Nutrition
Q13
Retail trade
rice
risk perception
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Summary:This study investigates factors affecting consumer purchase choice (cognitive structures) in two foods with different perceived risk levels. Means-end chain methodology is used to test for differences in the degrees of abstraction and complexity in the purchase decision process for each product. The results reveal significant differences, with more food safety issues coming into play in the case of the product associated with higher perceived risk in the past. This might suggest a non-temporal effect on consumers' level of risk perception in food products, with important implications for crisis management. Furthermore, logit models estimated to investigate the health impact of foods show that age and income have played a role in turning this credence attribute into a key element of consumer choice.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2009.00224.x
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ark:/67375/WNG-TG5PWQF6-L
ArticleID:JAGE224
Ramo Barrena and Mercedes Sánchez are based in Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus Arrosadia, 31006 Pamplona, Spain. Tel.: +34 948 169394, E‐mail
mersan@unavarra.es
ramo.barrena@unavarra.es
for correspondence. The authors thank the Government of Navarra for financing this research project. We also thank David Harvey, Editor‐in‐Chief, and two reviewers for their helpful comments.
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ISSN:0021-857X
1477-9552
DOI:10.1111/j.1477-9552.2009.00224.x